Reenforced hand covering



June 12, 1928.

G. A. KURZ REENFORCED HAND GOVERI NG Filed J y 1925 5 Sheets-SheetG-A-KzZ/ZZ.

June 12, 1928.

G. A. KU RZ REENFOHCED HAND COVERING Filed July 22, 1925 s Sheets-Sheet2 June 12, 1928. 1,673,517

a. A. KURZ REENFORCED HAND COVERING Filed July 22, 1925 s Sheets-Sheet 3Patented June 12, 1928.

UNITED STATES GUSTAVE A. KURZ, OF ZANESVILLE, OHIO.

REENFOBGED HAND COVERING.

Application filed July 22, 1925. Serial No. 45,351.

This invention relates to improvements in hand coverings and moreparticularly to hand coverings of the reversible type or, in otherwords, hand coverings which may be worn upon either hand, and one of theobjects of the invention is to provide a novel construction ofreenforcement for the thumb crotch of such a hand covering; 7 Handcoverings of the type referred to 10 above are ordinarily worn for workpurposes rather than for dress, and are usually made of suitable clothmaterial. It has been found that the greatest wear, in such a covering,occurs in the thumb crotch and along the inner side of the thumb stalland the opposing surface portion of the body of the hand covering andthe outer side of the index finger stall. hand coverings are used inmanual labor, it is, of course, essential that they be suflicientlyflexible as .not to interfere with freedom of movement of the wearershands. In View of the foregoing, it is, therefore, another object of thepresent invention, 'to provide, in a reversible, hand covering, meanswhich will effectually strengthen, re enforce, and protectthe portionsof the hand covering referredt'o without stifleningthese portions in amanner to in any way 1nterfere with the freedom of movement of thehands. Another object of the invention i sto provide a reenforcementwhich may be instant 1y adapted to the body blank of the hand coveringand a portion of which will so match with a part of the said blank thatthe correspondingly shaped other portlon of the reenforcement will be.properly located in osition overlapping another portion of said bodyblank, so that economy in time and labor is efieoted in assembling there enforcement with the body blank, thereby reducing the cost ofmanufacture.

In one of its embodiments, the invention contemplates the provision of areenforcement which will serve also as a friction element, rendering thehand covering especially desirable for use by motormen, r1veters,engineers, auto truck drivers, mill Workers, and others who are.required to firmly grip machine parts, or controlling devices and whereit is essential that such parts or devices shall be held againstslipping.

In the accompanying drawings: 4

Figure 1, is a view in elevation, of a glove embodying the invention.

Inasmuch as such Figure 2 is a similar view illustrating the thumb ofthe glove turned downwardly to better show the reenforcement. f

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 33 ofFigure 2. i

Figure 4 is a similar view taken substan tially on the line 4 l'ofFigure l.

Figure 5 is aplan view of the body blank constituting apart of the gloveshown in Figures 1 and2, the view also illustrating the reenforcingblank assembled therewith.

Figure 6 is a plan view of one of the fourchettes of the glove. p

Figure 7 is a plan view of the thumb stall blank of the glove.

Figure 8 is "a view similar. to Figure 2, partly in section,illustrating a modified form of the invention.

Figure 9 is a verticaltransverse sectional view through the modifiedstructure shown in Figure 8. v

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 1, illustrating the embodiment ofthe invention in a mitten; I i

Where the hand covering is in the nature of a glove as in the forms ofthe invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 8 of the drawings, it is madeupfrom blanks of the contour shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7 of thedrawings. Figure 5 of the drawings illustrates the body blank of thehand covering,

which blank is indicated in general by the numeral 1 and comprises anintegral onepiece sheet of suitable cloth material having substantiallyparallel lateral edges 2, and a straight lower margin 3, and a thumbstall portion 4 which is provided by forming arouate incisions 5 in theblank at the lower portion thereof, which incisions extend through thelower margin 3 ofv the blank, the said thumb stall portion 4: beinglocated midway between the lateral margins 2 ofthe blank andconstituting the inner side of the completed thumb stall. The body ofthe blank isprovided at its upper portion with a little finger stallportion 6, third finger stall ortion 7, middle finger stall portion 8,an an index finger stall portion indicated by the numeral 9.,the latterbeing of a width equal substantially to twice the width of any of theportions 7 01* 8, for example, so as to extend over the outer side ofthe index finger without any creases being formed along this side, thelateral margins 2 of the glove blank being, of course, stitched togetherto provide the usual seam along the little finger side of the glove. Itwill be observed by reference to Figure 5, that the upper ends of theincisions 5 terminate opposite each other and at points equi-distantlyspaced from a perpendicular line passing midway longitudinally of theindex finger stall portion ofthe blank. Figure 6 of the drawingsillustrates one of the fourchettes of the glove, which is indicated bythe numeral 10, and these fourch'ettes are employed between the fingerstall portions of the body blank in the usual manner, and are of thesame material as the body blank. Figure 7 of the drawings illustratesthe blank, indicated in general by the numeral 11, which, in conjunctionwith the thumb stall portion 4 of the body blank and curved marginalportions of said body blank which result from the formation of theincisions 5, and to which the lateral marginal portions of the blank 11are stitched, completes the thumb stall of the glove as well as closingthe glove at the thumb side of the body thereof. The hand covering thusfar described does not differ materially from the ordinary reversiblecloth glove, and when the several minor blanks are united by stitchingto the major blank, the hand covering thus produced may be applied toeither hand, due chiefly to the location of the thumb stall portion 4midway between the lateral edges 2 of the main blank. It will beobserved by reference to Figure 4 of the drawings, that in theembodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, the lateral marginalportions of the blank 11 are united by an inturned seam 12 to the marginof the portion 4 of the main blank, the said portion 4 being united tothe blank 11 continuously along the margin of the said portion 4 and theportion being adapted to be folded upwardly along its line of juncturewith the body portion of the blank 1 in the course of manufacture of theglove. This arrangement, of course, holds true in the manufacture ofsuch gloves which are devoid of any reenforcement or any protectingmedium.

In carrying out the invention as exemplified in Figures 1 to 7inclusive, the glove is provided with means extending over the innerside of its thumb stall and over a corresponding area of its bodyportion and index finger stall for not only reenforeing andstrengthening the glove at this portion, but also prolonging thedurability of this portion of the glove. This means comprises areenforcement 13 in the nature of a blank which is preferably of softleather although some other equally durable and tenacious material maybe found suitable for the purpose, and in this particular embodiment ofthe invention it is desirable that the material be such that it willconstitute a friction surface. The reenforcing blank 13 is preferably ofa double elliptical form or, in other words, has the marginal contour oftwo ellipses disposed with their minor ends meeting, one of theelliptical portions of the reenforcement being indicated by the numeral14 and the other by the numeral 15, the joinin portion of thereenforcement being indicate by the numeral 16. The reenforcement issecured in place by securing the margin of the portion 14 continuouslywithin the seam 12, as best illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 4 of thedrawings, the margin of the portion 15 being secured by a line ofstitching 17 to the outer side of the intermediate portion of the bodyblank 1 immediately above the upper ends of the incisions 5, the joiningportion 16 of thereenforcement lying directly within the thumb crotch ofthe glove and being devoid of any seams. It will be evident that thereenforcement 13 does not appreciably detract from the flexibility ofthe glove and that, on the other hand, the presence of the extrathickness represented by the reenforcement is of advantage inasmuch asthe reenforcement is located at the place where the greatest wearoccurs, it being a well known fact that controller and other levers,automobile steering wheels, and other manually actuated mechanicalcontrolling devices are more firmly gripped between the thumb and baseof the forefinger than by any other portion of the hand. Therefore,

4 of the drawings, that the reenforcement 13 is of such contour anddimensions that its portion 14 extends over one-half the circumferenceof the thumb stall so thatthe entire inner side of the thumb stall isprotected b this portion of the reenforcement. It wi l likewise beobserved by reference to Figure 3, that the portion 15 of thereenforcement extends completely over the outer lateral half of theindex finger stall 9 and a corresponding portion of the area of the bodyof the glove at the base of the said stall.

In the previously described embodiment of the invention, thereenforcement is located upon the outer side of'the hand covering, butin the embodiment shown in Figures 8 and 9 of the drawings, thereenforcement is located upon the inner side of the hand eovering. Inthe embodiment illustrated in Figures 8 and 9, the hand covering initself, does not differ structurally from the hand covering shown inFigures 1 and 2, comprising a body portion 18, little finger, thirdfinger, middle finger, and index finger stalls, indicated respectivelyby the numerals 19,

20, 21 and 22, and a thumb stall indicated by the numeral 23. In thesefigures, the reenforcement is indicated by the numeral 24 and isidentical in every respect with the reenforcement 13 of the previouslydescribed form. In this instance, however, the portion 25 of thereenforcement 24L which corresponds to the portion 14: of thereenforcement 13, is united at its margin to the seam 26 of the thumbstall 23, the connecting or joining portion 27 of the reenforcementlying within the crotch between the thumb stall and the index fingerstall and the portion of the body 18 of the hand covering at the base ofthe said index finger stall, as best shown in Figure 9 of the drawings,the reenforcement as a whole being disposed at the inner side of thehand covering rather than at the outer side thereof. The portion 28 ofthe reenforcement 24 which corresponds to the portion 15 of thereenforcement 13, is

united at its margin by a line of stitching 29 to the inner side of theindex'finger stall 22 and that portion of the body of the hand coveringat the base of said finger stall. It will be evident that thereenforcement 24 serves to reenforce, strengthen, and promote thedurability of the hand covering, in this embodiment, precisely as in thepreviously described embodiment of the invention. This last describedembodiment is intended for use by farmers, bricklayers, carpenters,plumbers, and other laborers in general who would prefer thereenforcement on the inner side of the hand covering where it would notbe visible.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 10 of the drawings,the invention is illustrated as applied to a mitten indicated by thenumeral 30, the reenforcement being indicated by the numeral 31 andbeing either applied as in the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, oras shown in Figures 8 and 9, or, in other words, either to the exterioror to the interior of the mitten.

It will be observed that in all of the embodiments of the invention, themarginal contour of the reenforcement blank presents an advantage from amanufacturing point of view in that each of the elliptical portions ofthe blank is of the same marginal contour and substantially the samedimensions as the portion of the thumb stall which is integral with themain blank 0f the hand cover-- thumb stall and a reenforcement appliedto v the opposing sides of the thumb stall and embodying alinedelliptical end portions of like size and contour and an intermediateconstricted portion disposed in the crotch formed between the thumbstall and the body of the covering.

body of the covering, saidfreenforcement In'testimony whereof I aflix mysignature.

GUSTAVE A. KURZ. a s.]

